New chief executive promises continuity
His career includes a stint as the president of Optimus, a Nowy Sącz-based hardware maker famous for the unfair arrest of its founder, Roman Kluska, on trumped-up charges of tax evasion.
"Once the corrupt bureaucratic machine rolls over you like that, and you get back up, there is nothing that can move you," Dąbski says of the experience. Though a multinational company like Fujitsu Siemens is less exposed to such harassment, it could still prove useful for a company that has a weaker position in this country than it does worldwide. With a 7.2 percent domestic market share, as against more than 10 percent Europe-wide, the firm now has its third chief executive in less than a year, indicating, perhaps, a degree of dissatisfaction with Dąbski's predecessor, who enjoyed just an eight-month term at the helm.
Dąbski declines to comment on the reasons for the change at the top, saying merely that, "the only constant thing in business is change." He adds, however, that he expects to stay at the company for much longer than eight months.
"We have no choice but to be successful here," he adds. "This is our backyard, we are an EU company and as such we are best placed to benefit from accession." He is convinced that accession will bring about an end to the stagnation on the market for hardware, as mounting competition will pressure firms into investments in IT infrastructure, while structural funds will make such investments more affordable. The domestic branch of Fujitsu Siemens is setting up an office in Brussels to take advantage of such opportunities and Dąbski says that the company's European pedigree gives it an edge over the competition.
The new president does not envisage a major change in the company's strategy, which focuses on handheld computers and top-end servers. The firm plans to grow well ahead of the market, which is not expected to go into double digits. Last year, Fujitsu Siemens estimates, the company's revenues were up 100 percent, and its spokesman says that the results, as well as profit margins and growth dynamics, "tend to be well ahead of the industry average."
So far, the company has made most of its money from sales to large enterprises, but Dąbski wants to boost the percentage of sales coming from small and medium-sized companies.
"We do not want to repeat the mistake that some companies have made, namely waiting for that one big deal that might never materialize," he says. This focus on the diversification of revenue streams leads the company to commit to investments in sales channels in this country.
"We plan to take advantage of the perceived arrogance of our competitors," he says, adding that market leaders have not always proven loyal to their partners, leading to discontent among them. Fujitsu Siemens is in a position to exploit the mistakes made by its competition, by maintaining complete transparency of sales channels.
Most of the revenue growth that such moves are expected to generate should be in notebooks, Dąbski says, dismissing the notion that the global market trends serve to depress growth prospects in this segment. Last year, sales of 'smartphones', high-end cell phones that can run small pieces of software, for the first time overtook those of handheld computers.
"The dynamic smartphone sales are an indication that our direction, mobility, is right," he says. "Everyone I know who has a smartphone also owns a computer."
Another area that could prove to hold even more growth potential than the market for handheld computers is sales to the public sector. In this market segment, Fujitsu Siemens' chief offerings are its top-end servers.
Despite the controversies surrounding recent tenders, which have served to slow down procedures and made the market unpredictable, the public administration's huge needs in the area of IT infrastructure, which could be met with the help of structural funds, are expected to bring about rapid growth rates in coming years. If the scenario proves correct, there could indeed be a bright future for the country's hardware firms.
"Once the corrupt bureaucratic machine rolls over you like that, and you get back up, there is nothing that can move you," Dąbski says of the experience. Though a multinational company like Fujitsu Siemens is less exposed to such harassment, it could still prove useful for a company that has a weaker position in this country than it does worldwide. With a 7.2 percent domestic market share, as against more than 10 percent Europe-wide, the firm now has its third chief executive in less than a year, indicating, perhaps, a degree of dissatisfaction with Dąbski's predecessor, who enjoyed just an eight-month term at the helm.
Dąbski declines to comment on the reasons for the change at the top, saying merely that, "the only constant thing in business is change." He adds, however, that he expects to stay at the company for much longer than eight months.
"We have no choice but to be successful here," he adds. "This is our backyard, we are an EU company and as such we are best placed to benefit from accession." He is convinced that accession will bring about an end to the stagnation on the market for hardware, as mounting competition will pressure firms into investments in IT infrastructure, while structural funds will make such investments more affordable. The domestic branch of Fujitsu Siemens is setting up an office in Brussels to take advantage of such opportunities and Dąbski says that the company's European pedigree gives it an edge over the competition.
The new president does not envisage a major change in the company's strategy, which focuses on handheld computers and top-end servers. The firm plans to grow well ahead of the market, which is not expected to go into double digits. Last year, Fujitsu Siemens estimates, the company's revenues were up 100 percent, and its spokesman says that the results, as well as profit margins and growth dynamics, "tend to be well ahead of the industry average."
So far, the company has made most of its money from sales to large enterprises, but Dąbski wants to boost the percentage of sales coming from small and medium-sized companies.
"We do not want to repeat the mistake that some companies have made, namely waiting for that one big deal that might never materialize," he says. This focus on the diversification of revenue streams leads the company to commit to investments in sales channels in this country.
"We plan to take advantage of the perceived arrogance of our competitors," he says, adding that market leaders have not always proven loyal to their partners, leading to discontent among them. Fujitsu Siemens is in a position to exploit the mistakes made by its competition, by maintaining complete transparency of sales channels.
Most of the revenue growth that such moves are expected to generate should be in notebooks, Dąbski says, dismissing the notion that the global market trends serve to depress growth prospects in this segment. Last year, sales of 'smartphones', high-end cell phones that can run small pieces of software, for the first time overtook those of handheld computers.
"The dynamic smartphone sales are an indication that our direction, mobility, is right," he says. "Everyone I know who has a smartphone also owns a computer."
Another area that could prove to hold even more growth potential than the market for handheld computers is sales to the public sector. In this market segment, Fujitsu Siemens' chief offerings are its top-end servers.
Despite the controversies surrounding recent tenders, which have served to slow down procedures and made the market unpredictable, the public administration's huge needs in the area of IT infrastructure, which could be met with the help of structural funds, are expected to bring about rapid growth rates in coming years. If the scenario proves correct, there could indeed be a bright future for the country's hardware firms.
